The Movement System
Original Editor - Mariam Hashem
Top Contributors - Mariam Hashem and Lucinda hampton
Introduction[edit | edit source]
The movement system is identified as the collection of various systems: cardiovascular, pulmonary, endocrine, integumentary, nervous and musculoskeletal that work together in coordination to produce body movement. As physiotherapists we are characterized as movement experts and this shapes our unique identity in the medical society.
In 2013, the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) adopted a new vision, “Transforming society by optimizing movement to improve the human experience.”
This new vision is considered to be an identity for physiotherapists that calls for skills, knowledge and expertise related to the movement system to promote optimal development and prevents activity limitation[1].
Implications on the profession[edit | edit source]
Physiotherapists have always been identofied with the treatemnt thy deliver rather than the body of knowledge, clinical reasoning and diagnostic skills. By adopting this new vision, we are directing the way the public and the healthcare professionals approach us.
The first principal of this new vision states the following: “The physical therapy profession will define and promote the movement system as the foundation for optimizing movement to improve the health of society. Recognition and validation of the movement system is essential to understanding the structure, function, and potential of the human body. The physical therapist will be responsible for evaluating and managing an individual's movement system across the lifespan to promote optimal development; diagnose impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions; and provide interventions targeted at preventing or ameliorating activity limitations and participation restrictions. The movement system is the core of physical therapist practice, education, and research''[3].
Prior to this, physiotherapists have been using the movement system in their practice but when it wasn't promoted as the foundation or conceptual framework of our practice[1].
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Saladin L, Voight M. Introduction to the movement system as the foundation for physical therapist practice education and research. International journal of sports physical therapy. 2017 Nov;12(6):858.
- ↑ What is the Movement System? . Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPktFg0Mjsg [last accessed 29/02/2020]
- ↑ American Physical Therapy Association. Physical therapist practice and the movement system. An American Physical Therapy Association White Paper. 2015.
